Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.

Should cats and dogs be allowed to live in high-rise condos or apartments?

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING BLOG MAY UPSET ANIMAL LOVERS DUE TO GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF ANIMAL CRUELTY.

Last week I was walking home along 2nd Avenue and I witnessed something gruesome. A cat fell to its death about 10 yards in front of me. The poor cat died instantly due to the impact, but the scene was rather disturbing to me. The cat fell from one of the condo buildings that must have over 25 floors. I’m not sure which floor the cat fell from, but the instant death and impact suggested it was a high floor.

I’m a cat lover, and an animal lover for that matter. Typically, I don’t think about people who have cats and dogs in condos and apartments as doing something wrong. If a person wants to have a dog or cat in their downtown living space, that’s their prerogative. After seeing this horrible accident, I second-guessed my opinion concerning pets in high-rise apartments and condos. Before I got too carried away with my opinion changing, I decided to inquire about the number of incidents similar to this one. After all, I haven’t seen or heard of this happening before, maybe it’s not that common.

I contacted a couple high-rise apartments and condos and asked how often this happened. I heard of two other cats falling to their death:

1. Last year, a cat fell from the 27th floor and died instantly upon impact in the atrium at one building that wanted to remain unnamed.

2. Two months ago, a cat fell from a balcony and died upon impact. The building manager did not know who the cat belonged to, so they stored the cat’s body until the owner contacted the office reporting a missing cat the next day. This building wanted to remain unnamed as well.

Perhaps cats should not be allowed to live in high-rise buildings with windows and/or balconies. After all, cats will be cats, and cats tend to be curious creatures. All it takes is one bird flying by a window to entice a cat to sit on the ledge or near an open window. High-rise condo and apartment buildings should only allow dogs and fish, right? Actually, dogs get mistreated too.

Some people believe that dogs shouldn’t be raised in small apartments and condos; especially large dogs. There’s a guy who currently lives in my building that owns two large dogs and his place cannot be any bigger than 950sq ft. Is this fair to dogs? I see dog lovers taking their dogs on walks throughout the spring and summer. I always see dogs in the elevator with their owners in the spring and summer, but lately I haven’t seen as many. Is the colder weather keeping the owners from taking their dogs on walks and to the park? Maybe.

I also decided to inquire about bad situations with dogs. Although there were no reported instances about dogs falling to their death, there was one instance I heard of:

1. Over the past summer, building management received word that a person was locking his dog out on his balcony during the day on the summer months while he was at work since his unit didn’t have air conditioning. The building wanted to remain unnamed.

Belltowners, either take care of your animals or give them to a responsible home! For every one of the negative stories above, there are hundreds of responsible pet owners. So to answer my question of whether or not dogs and cats should be allowed to live in high rise apartments/condos; yes, they should be. However, if a person gets caught acting irresponsible, they should be banned from owning a pet while living downtown. Cats and dogs are required to be licensed in Seattle and if they aren’t, you may pay a fine of $125. If you are found guilty of animal negligence like the situations above, I think you should banned from licensing an animal while living downtown.

This blog was not intended to disgust or offend people, rather, it was intended to inform.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.